Lithuanian

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev suffered his first defeat in the Soviet Union's new legislature Thursday when most of the deputies from the Baltic republic of Lithuania walked out to protest what they saw as his attempt to establish a new constitutional court whose rulings are likely to run counter to Lithuanian interests. Gorbachev, nonplussed by the dramatic protest, which was broadcast live on national television and radio, quickly adjourned the session of the Congress of People's Deputies in the midst of a vote on the committee's membership.

Ten days before opening ceremonies at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the host country has suffered the embarrassment of having one or more of its athletes suspended for a failed drug test. The International Biathlon Union announced Wednesday three competitors from Russia and Lithuania were found to have an unnamed prohibited substance in their samples. "According to the WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] code, the IBU therefore provisionally suspended the respective athletes from any IBU competitions until the decision of the anti-doping hearing panel is reached," the statement said.

Soviet Black Berets viciously attacked and killed Lithuanian custom officers and border guards on the first day of Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Stockholm to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. And on Aug. 1, with the entire world watching the final news conference of the summit, they again attacked and killed six more unarmed Lithuanian custom officials in an ugly incident on the Byelorussian-Lithuanian border. How can we ever accept Gorbachev's leadership of the Soviet Union when he can't control a handful of terrorists in his own military ranks who willfully disobey him and are intent on humiliating him?

The star-studded field of the women's 100-meter breaststroke final on Tuesday featured reigning Olympic gold medalist and newly minted world-record holder Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania and former world-record holder Jessica Hardy of Long Beach. Meilutyte made a spirited bid at her own mark - set on Monday in the semifinals - and came close, winning in 1 minute 04.42 seconds at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona. The 16-year-old, who trains in Plymouth, England, was seven-hundredths off Monday's world-record time.

Soviet basketball star Sarunas Marchiulenis said today he was discussing a possible contract with Golden State Warriors to become the first Soviet player in the National Basketball Assn. Marchiulenis, who won a gold medal with the Soviet team in last year's Olympics, told the government newspaper Izvestia a representative of the Warriors arrived Wednesday in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to negotiate terms. Marchiulenis plays for the Lithuanian basketball club Statiba Vilnius where he is a teammate of Arvidas Sabonis, another member of the Soviet Olympic team who has been drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers.

How sad that people lack such self-confidence and pride in their heritage that they obliterate their names for the sake of easy pronunciation. As a Lithuanian-American, I have always had to repeat my name, correct the pronunciation and put up with myriad nicknames. But, as a result, there are a number of people who know a little bit about my Baltic heritage and appreciate the uniqueness in the spelling of my name. I intend for my children to have Lithuanian names, too. How convenient it would have been to be named Debbie, but I wouldn't change my name for an instant.

Gunfire broke out at a protest in central Afghanistan against a U.S. sniper in Iraq who used a Koran for target practice. Officials said a NATO soldier and two civilians were killed. Police opened fire on demonstrators who threw rocks and set tents on fire near a military airfield in Ghor province, said Maj. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was unclear who shot the NATO soldier from Lithuania, O'Donnell said. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry identified the victim as Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius, 35, the first Lithuanian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

It is tragically ironic that the Nobel Peace Prize, which has honored in the past some of the greatest champions of justice and models of virtue, has fallen this year upon Gorbachev, the man who chose to use force to suppress the Lithuanian democratic uprising, one of Eastern Europe's most peaceful revolutions of the last year. Armed only with their national songs and tri-color flags, the Lithuanians took to the streets and polling booths to express their intentions of regaining their rightful independence which was stolen in 1940; yet Gorbachev responded by ordering Soviet tanks to roll through the streets of Vilnius.

In response to article "Ethnic Independence Is Not the Only Out in Hot Spots," by Jerry Hough, Commentary, Feb. 26: Hough does not understand what's happening. Neither the Soviet Union nor Yugoslavia is coming together. Who wants it besides him and leftover communists? Amazing that in democratic America persons of Hough's stature wish tyranny imposed on other people heroically struggling to be free. Nationalism exists because it is natural and right for people of different cultures to want to be their own masters, regardless of price.

With regard to the editorial "Gorbachev's Secession Crisis" (Jan. 16), I should like to comment on what was not mentioned in the editorial: namely on the identity crisis now facing the Soviets. It is clear to me, as an American of Lithuanian descent, that the residents of Sovietized countries must feel strongly about the loss of their national identity in such a process. Just how Soviet officials react to the current upsurge of nationalism remains to be seen. The fact that many of the Baltic and Armenian "rebels" seen in the press are relatively young men and women is significant.

Looking at the titles of some of the fall's most noted documentaries, one could get an impression of a world spiraling desperately out of control. With titles such as "The House I Live In," Eugene Jarecki's Sundance-prize winning examination of the war on drugs opening Oct. 5; "How to Survive a Plague," David France's look at AIDS activism (Sept. 21); "Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare," Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke's take on U.S. healthcare (Oct. 5); and "Detropia," Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's exploration of Detroit as a focal point of economic and social change (Oct.

You won't find his name in the 38-page Farmers Classic program, but Ricardas Berankis continued his weeklong tournament run with a 7-5, 6-1 upset of sixth-seeded Marinko Matosevic in Saturday's semifinal at UCLA's L.A. Tennis Center. In Sunday's final, Berankis will face Sam Querrey, who defeated fellow American Rajeev Ram in the other semifinal, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Querrey is seeking to win his third Farmers Classic championship in four years; he missed the 2011 tournament with an elbow injury.

Reeves Nelson is turning pro. The former UCLA forward, who was dismissed from the team last week, is expected to sign with a Lithuanian team, Zalgiris, as soon as this weekend. "He's ready to go," his father, Brian, said Friday. "He has indicated to me, this is for the money now. " Brian Nelson also said his son "100%" plans to make himself eligible for the next NBA draft and that he is done playing college basketball. Brian Nelson declined to reveal the terms of the contract because he said the deal was not yet finalized.

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick A Novel Joe Schreiber Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 192 pp., $16.99, ages 12 and up When Perry Stormaire learned his family would be hosting a Lithuanian exchange student during his senior year of high school, he immediately imagined "some chic Mediterranean lioness with half-lidded eyes, fully upholstered lips, curves like a European sports car, and legs of a swimsuit model who would tutor me with...

Between Shades of Gray A Novel Ruta Sepetys Philomel: 344 pp., $17.99, ages 12 and up In young adult books about World War II, the Holocaust dominates. But there are lesser-known atrocities that also took place, including during the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states. The Soviets not only displaced countless Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians, leaving them to die, but wiped those countries from the map for much of the last century. It's this story that is told in "Between Shades of Gray," the heart-wrenching debut novel from Ruta Sepetys.

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to quell demonstrators in the Lithuanian capital Friday, as economic hardship burst into street-level rage in another European country. With dwindling budgets forcing unpopular spending cuts and tax hikes in many countries, the global financial crisis is steadily emerging as a political threat to governments. Demonstrations have erupted in Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria and Iceland as bread-and-butter anxiety turns into anti-government rage.

During the last two years, Smithsonian/Folkways Records has built rather quietly the beginnings of an impressive album catalogue, much of it drawn from the historic Folkways Records collection. Now that the company has nearly 60 titles in circulation, it is planning to move more aggressively into promotion--so expect to read a lot about the albums and see more displays of Smithsonian/Folkways product in stores. Matt Walters, director of operations for the Cambridge, Mass.

Gunfire broke out at a protest in central Afghanistan against a U.S. sniper in Iraq who used a Koran for target practice. Officials said a NATO soldier and two civilians were killed. Police opened fire on demonstrators who threw rocks and set tents on fire near a military airfield in Ghor province, said Maj. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was unclear who shot the NATO soldier from Lithuania, O'Donnell said. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry identified the victim as Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius, 35, the first Lithuanian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

"What's new in Baltimore?" Frank Zappa used to sing at the end of a long, characteristically off-the-wall rock jam he called "Clowns on Velvet." What's new in Baltimore, the city in which the late rock star was born in 1940, is a public sculpture of Zappa himself, and the tale behind the 15-foot statue that a public arts panel accepted Wednesday night as a gift to the city is as incongruous as Zappa's genre-bending music career.